Improvement in tampion-caps for the muzzles of ordnance exhausted, of air



J. F. CL'EU.

Ordnance. No. 45,020.-

Pabented NOV.I15, 1864..

linrrn sum JOHN F. OLEU, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVEMENT IN TAMPION-CAPS FOR THE MUZZLES OF ORDNANCE EXHAUSTEDiOFAIR.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 45,020, dated November15, 1864.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOHN F. OLEU, of thecity, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Ordnance and Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare piece orarm with an air-tight cap and exhausting the air from the bore in frontof the charge and projectile, so as to produce a more or less perfectvacuum therein, and furnishing some portion of the barrel of the piecewith a valve for the preservation of the vacuum in the bore after thedisconnection of the exhausting apparatus and until the opening providedfor the connection of said apparatus can be closed by an air-tight screwplug or cap or its equivalent.

It further consists in the combination of a muzzle-cap of india-rubberand a tampion of wood or other stiff material for closing the muzzle ofthe piece and excluding the air during and after. the exhaustingprocess, which are easily destroyed or penetrated by the projectile whenthe charge is fired.

The invention is applicable to either breechloading or muzzle-loadingguns. The gun represented is muzzle-loading, but is fitted at the breechwith an anti-recoil piston, 22, and with a needle, 0, for producing theignition of fulmin ate priming-arranged within the cartridges. Thisneedle should be fitted air-tight to the breech or provided with anair-tight packing; or if the gun is made with an ordinary vent the saidvent should be fitted with an air-tight primer, or some means should beprovided for the exclusion of the air thereat. The recoilpiston andneedle do not constitute parts of this invention and are not necessaryto its success.

e is the valve which provides for the egress of air from the bore whenthe exhausting apparatus is in operation, but prevents its i11- gress.This valve may be of india-rubber, metal, or other meterial. It isattached or applied to a metal tube, (1, which is screwed into a holedrilled transversely through one side of the gun between the muzzle andthe part occupied by the projectile and suitably tapped. The said tubeis made with a collar, (1, for the reception of which the hole in thegun is counterbored, and outside of the said shoulder it is made with ascrewed teat, f, for the reception of a screw-cap, g.

A is the muzzle-cap, made of soft vulcanized india-rubber, of a size todraw tightly over the muzzle and exclude the air, and B is a thintampion, of wood or other stiff material, which fits into the end of thebore and has a shoulder to fit against the face of the muzzle. Thetampion B is intended to prevent the head of the india-rubber cap A frombeing pressed into the gun by the pressure of the atmosphere when theair is exhausted from the bore. The said tampion is out nearly throughradially to its axis in two or more places, as shown at t i, so that itmay be easily split and fall to pieces when struck by the projectile asthe latter passes out from the gun.

The operation of the invention is as follows:

The gun having been loaded and shotted, and having had the cap 9 removedand the tampion B and india-rubber muzzle-cap A applied to the muzzle,the suction-pipe of an exhausting air-pump or other exhausting apparatusis connected with the nozzle g, and thesaid apparatus set in operationtill the air has beenexhausted from the bore of the gun. Thesuction-pipe is then disconnected, and the valve e preserves the vacuumin the bore until the screw-cap g has been screwed onto the nozzle f,which is done as quickly as possible after the disconnection of thesuction-pipe. The vacuum being now preserved in the bore, the gun isready'for firing immediately or at any convenient time. Then the firingis effected, the projectile, coming in contact with the tampion, splitsit and breaks through the head of the india-rubber, taking the pieces ofthe tampion with it and passing onward while the pieces of the tampiondrop. The projectile, having had all atmospheric resistance removed fromit in the bore of the gun, takes a much greater range or acts with amuch 2 &5,020

greater penetrative effect. The portion of the dia-rubber, and thetampion B, of ivood or india-rubber cap remaining around the muzotherstiff material, partially or wholly divided zle of the gun is pulled offbefore the appliby radial cuts i i, the Whole being applied to cation ofanother cap. the muzzle of a piece of ordnance, substan- This inventionmay be used with great adtially as and for the purpose herein set forth.vantage for firing under Water, for which it 15 JOHN F. OLEU' moreespecially intended,

\Vhat I claim as new,- and desire to secure \Vitnesses:

by Letters Patent, is- JAMES P. HALL,

The combination of the muzzle-cap A, of in- GEO. XV. REED,

